Published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Summary:  When Jace and his family get a new puppy, they want to give him a cute name, but the puppy informs them that he’s too deep for that.  Jace gives him the name Thinker, and Thinker lives up to his new name, creating poems for all kinds of situations.  Jace tells the dog that he has to be quiet in public, but sometimes Thinker can’t hold back, like when Jace takes him to school for pets’ day.  Most of the poems are in Thinker’s voice, with Jace chiming in occasionally, and most are free verse, with one haiku and one rap.  Includes an author’s note with some additional thoughts about poetry.  32 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  This is a fun and accessible introduction to poetry for young kids with bold, colorful collage illustrations.  

Cons:  The title made me think that Jace would be the narrator.  The fact that Thinker could apparently talk in what otherwise appeared to be a realistic setting was a little confusing to me.

If you would like to buy this book on Amazon, click here.

Published by Millbrook Press

Summary:  Angela Johnson’s poem and Nina Crews’ photographs follow three girls who share their dreams…which are not always enthusiastically received by others.  They’ve dreamed of flying, walking over tall buildings, and swimming deep in the ocean, but some people tell them to keep their feet on the ground and be like everyone else.  They persist, though, dressing up and leading a parade of girls through the streets and to the ocean, because “a girl like me should always be thinking way up high and making everything better than the dream”.  The last two pages include thumbnail photos of all the girls who appear in the book, sharing what they like and what their dreams are.  32 pages; grades K-4.

Pros:  Nina Crews’s intriguing photo collage illustrations really bring this poem to life, making it a perfect companion to Seeing Into Tomorrow, the book of poems by Richard Wright that she illustrated with photos featuring boys.  The last two pages make a nice discussion starter to talk about hopes and dreams for the future.

Cons:  I didn’t quite get this book the first time I read it, and had to go back and read it more carefully, with special attention to the illustrations.

If you would like to buy this book on Amazon, click here.

Published by Charlesbridge

Summary:  A school assignment to share a collection leaves the narrator wondering what she should bring.  Her classmates seem excited about their showing their arrowheads, marbles, and teddy bears, but she doesn’t collect anything.  She interviews family members and friends, creating poems about each of them: her mother’s buttons, her brother’s baseball cards, an aunt’s license plates–even the mail carrier’s collection of smiling faces.  The last page shows her back at school, surrounded by kids with samples of their collections on their desks. She’s not worried now, though, because she has a collection of her own–a book of poems. 32 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  A charming first poetry book for primary grade kids by the author of Fresh-Picked Poetry.  Readers may be inspired to start a collection, write a poem, or do both.

Cons:  This book actually came out in 2019.  

If you would like to buy this book from the Odyssey Bookshop, click here.

Although we in the children’s literature world tend to focus on the Newbery and Caldecott, check out the American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards to see all the other categories that are recognized at the same time.  Here are a few picture books that I believe are worthy of consideration for some of those.

Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Published by Versify

I love Kwame Alexander’s poem, but I think it’s illustrator Kadir Nelson who is most likely to be recognized with a Coretta Scott King award this year for his amazing portraits of the African Americans Alexander writes about.

The Women Who Caught the Babies: A Story of African American Midwives by Eloise Greenfield, illustrated by Daniel Minter

Published by Alazar Press

This one could go either way for the Coretta Scott King award: both the poems and the illustrations are pretty amazing.

Rise! From Caged Bird to Poet of the People, Maya Angelou by Bethany Hegedus, illustrated by Tonya Engel

Published by Lee & Low Books

Pity that Coretta Scott King committee who has so many worthy contenders to choose from this year.

¡Vamos! Let’s Go to the Market! by Raul the Third

Published by Versify

I will be pretty surprised if Raúl the Third doesn’t get some sort of Pura Belpré recognition for his Richard Scarry-like illustrations of this trip to the market.  I was happy to learn recently that Let’s Go Eat! is coming out in March.

A Place to Land: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation by Barry Wittenstein, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

Published by Neal Porter Books

And one more Coretta Scott King possibility.  Of course, all of these could be contenders for the Caldecott as well.  Truth be told, I dreamed up this blog post because there were so many I wanted to put on the Caldecott prediction post, and for some reason I always limit myself to five.